Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 169 Rampant Xilu
In August, the autumn air is crisp...

According to common sense, such a day should be a day worth being happy about.

But outside the Fengtian Hall in Nanjing City, there was silence.

In the square of Fengtian Hall, hundreds of officials of the fifth rank and above were looking at their noses with their eyes and their minds with their noses.

The same is true for officials of the third rank and above at the gate of Fengtian Hall.

The only person who was not silent was the official of the Zhengwupin Rites Department who was bowing his head.

"Ding Sishuo and Wuwu, Shaanxi Province's Suzhou Wei Shangshu, the state envoys Fu An and Guo Ji, and more than [-] soldiers arrived in the capital of Timur in February this year."

"However, Timur was arrogant and said, "If China is far away from me, how can the emperor be like me?" So he detained the envoy."

"Zhang Zun, an official from a hundred households, led a dozen people to escape in time and returned to Suzhou Guards in July. He then expressed his love and asked the imperial court to send troops to rescue the envoy..."

After the officials from the Ministry of Rites finished speaking, the entire Fengtian Palace became even quieter.

There was no sadness or joy on Zhu Yuanzhang's face, but Zhu Yunwen's eyes flickered.

"He was really right..."

Zhu Yunwen's face looked very ugly, and his mind instantly thought of the face that had disappeared from the news for several months.

At the beginning, Zhu Gaoxu's words in Wuying Palace were still vaguely in his ears. Now, less than two years have passed, and what he said has happened.

Then Timur, is he really going to send troops to invade our Ming Dynasty...

Zhu Yunwen set his sights on his imperial grandfather. Compared with him, Zhu Yuanzhang still sat firmly on Diaoyutai.

"Where is that bottle now?"

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke slowly. Men Kexin, the Minister of Rites, stepped forward, held the wat board and bowed:
"That Zhang Zun is now waiting outside Fengtian Gate, waiting for His Majesty to see him."

"Pass him up." Zhu Yuanzhang said without thinking. Men Kexin also bowed and then ordered someone to pass Zhang Zun.

About two words later, Zhu Yuanzhang saw a military attache being led through Fengtian Square and up to Fengtian Hall.

Not long after, the man came to the door of Fengtian Hall, bowed five times and kowtowed three times: "Official Zhang Zun from hundreds of households, see your majesty, may your majesty be blessed and well..."

"What about the national strength of Timur's country?"

Zhu Yuanzhang still remembered Zhu Gaoxu's words that Timur had more than [-] million people and hundreds of thousands of troops, so he wanted to know if it was Zhu Gaoxu who was making nonsense.

"My ministers and the envoys traveled westward. The farther west they became, the more prosperous they became. The population of Samarkand was no less prosperous than that of Susong and other prefectures."

"Although the soldiers and horses under his command are not as complete as the Mingjia of the state, they are still able to equip their troops with Suozi and Mingjia. As I passed by, I saw no less than tens of thousands of soldiers and horses."

"According to its officials, its most elite soldiers and horses are still fighting abroad, and there are no less than 30 people who control the strings."

"This time they not only detained the envoy of our country, but also the envoy of the Rumi (Ottoman) country in the west to show that their country is strong."

Zhang Zun told everything he saw along the way, and what he said made the six ministers, the commander-in-chief of the five armies and other civil servants in front of the golden platform frown.

To put it simply, Timur's officials may be exaggerating their own strength, but for the Ming Dynasty, they had just driven the Mongols back to Mobei and had not enjoyed a few years of peace. Now such a powerful Mongolian suddenly appeared. Country, even if they are confident enough, they dare not let down their precautions.

What's more, when Zhu Gaoxu, Prince of Bohai County, exonerated Fu Youde and Feng Sheng in the Wuying Hall, basically all the officials of the fourth rank and above of Zhongzheng heard about it.

Now that Zhu Gaoxu is right about detaining envoys, will Timur really use Besbali Kingdom as a springboard to invade the Hexi Corridor of the Ming Dynasty from the Western Regions?

"What do you think..."

Zhu Yuanzhang sat under the yellow tent and on the golden platform and spoke softly.

In front of him, everyone started thinking, and after pondering for a long time, one person came forward.

"My minister Cao Guogong Li Jinglong thinks that Timur is thousands of miles away from the dynasty. Even if he has help from the country of Bali, he will not be so easy to invade our Ming Dynasty."

"The most urgent task is to send envoys to Besropali Kingdom to find out its attitude."

"If it is true as the King of Bohai County said back then, then we should take precautions."

"How to prevent it?" Zhu Yuanzhang had his own idea in mind, but still asked Li Jinglong.

In this regard, Li Jinglong did not show any cowardice, but analyzed the situation in Hexi based on what he knew: "The land in Hexi is now often maintained by grain exports from Shaanxi, and the local Semu, Hu Ta, and Fan people often rebel."

"I think that we can build more guard posts, increase the number of troops stationed, and open up the farmland to support the army."

"If we follow this method, within three years, all the guards in Hexi will be able to support themselves."

After all, Li Jinglong had traveled through the northwest and had presided over the tea and horse trade in the Songpan area, so he knew the topography west of Longshan very well.

In his opinion, although the Hexi Corridor is much poorer and worse than during the Han and Tang Dynasties, it is not impossible to farm fields. At least the places with guard posts on the map are basically close to the rivers flowing down from the Qilian Mountains.

As long as these rivers are properly used, fields can still be cultivated, and the quality of irrigated fields is second only to paddy fields.

However, if you want to have enough manpower and material resources to reclaim wasteland and irrigate the fields, you need enough soldiers to farm the fields.

Without affecting the number of soldiers, field soldiers can only be increased through immigration.

Li Jinglong knew this very well, and Zhu Yuanzhang was more decisive. He glanced around and then said:

"The imperial edict ordered Sichuan to be the chief administrative officer, move [-] civilian households in Chengdu Prefecture to Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province, and move [-] civilian households in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province to be classified as military households and go to the Xingdu Division, Shaanxi Province."

"Your Majesty, I accept the decree..." The six ministers bowed one after another, and Zhu Yuanzhang then spoke again:

"The Ministry of Rites sent people to the country of Besobali to inquire about the current situation of its ruler. If Besobali is interested in helping Timur, please report back as soon as possible."

"I accept my order..." Menke Xinzuo, Minister of Rites, bowed in response.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang also stood up and left the Jintai. The minister of Honglu Temple next to him sang: "Dismiss the dynasty——"

"Long live Long live Long live……"

The ministers sang a salute, and then after Zhu Yuanzhang left, they left the square in an orderly manner.

After they left, Li Jinglong and others from the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion also left.

Zhu Yunwen and the six ministers stayed, but not everyone stayed. At least Yu Xin, the minister of household affairs, turned around and left.

Looking at Yu Xin's leaving figure, Zhu Yunwen didn't feel surprised. He just stepped forward and frowned and said to Bao Zhao and the other five ministers:

"Gao Xu guessed this matter. Do you think the leader of the Bali Kingdom will marry his daughter to Timur?"

"This..." Bao Zhao and others looked at each other, but they couldn't say anything.

Among them, even Bao Zhao, who was from Shanxi in the north, had never understood some things west of Longshan.

It's not that they don't want to understand, but even if they want to understand, they have to understand what the local officials say.

What's more, the military households in Gansu Xingdusi have only been studying for a few years, and basically have not participated in the imperial examination. Therefore, it is very difficult for them to understand Longxi.

At this time, everyone couldn't help but miss Fu Youde and Feng Sheng.

At least the two of them know the west of Longshan very well, and they are famous generals in the world. If they were...

"That's all." Zhu Yunwen was a little unhappy, but he still kept his calm.

He bowed to Bao Zhao and others, and everyone returned the bow, then watched him turn and leave.

Seeing him leaving, everyone also left one after another.

At the same time as they left, the news of Timur detaining the Ming envoys spread throughout the yamen through Tangbao.

Many of them were worried that the Mongols would come back, but only Zhu Gaoxu, the instigator, knew best that Timur did not have the strength to expedition to the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Highness, aren't you worried?"

In the Chengyun Hall of Jilin City in mid-August, looking at Zhu Gaoxu reading the Tang newspaper with a smile on his face, Yi Shiha couldn't hide the worry on his face.

"Worried?" Zhu Gaoxu put down the pond newspaper and smiled even more: "Instead of worrying about these, it is better to worry about when my rice fields will mature and how much solid grain they can produce."

Zhu Gaoxu was indeed not worried about Timur, because if he remembered correctly, Timur should be preparing to fight Delhi in northwest India.

This war would hold him back for the better part of a year, followed by wars in Syria and Angola.

When he looked back, the Ming Dynasty Jingnan Campaign was over, and he missed the best time for the Eastern Expedition.

Of course, this is information that only Zhu Gaoxu, a man who knows history well, can know.

If the current Ming Dynasty inquires about the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, they will get a lot of news that will shock the government and the public.

The Ministry of Rites is now sending people to the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, and they should be able to find out the news that the great Khan Hei's son Huo Zhe sent his eldest son Shami Gahan to Samarkand to discuss marriage with Timur.

Not only that, the Black Erhuo Khan also married a princess from the clan to Timur and signed an alliance with Timur after the negotiation between the two countries.

Not only did he marry his daughter to Timur, he also promised verbally that he would prepare food and wages for Timur's Eastern Expedition in the future.

Although these news are just some of the false news and compromises made by the black Erhuozhan Khan in order to stabilize Timur, in Ming's view, isn't this the means of forming an alliance between them?

Therefore, if Zhu Gaoxu guessed correctly, when the Ming Dynasty learns of the alliance between the Eastern Chagatai Khanate and Timur next year, it will definitely increase the number of troops stationed in Gansu until Timur and the Eastern Chagatai Khanate are in conflict. They will withdraw their troops only if they lose face.

However, the two countries had to wait until the first year of Jianwen three years later to break up.

In the first year of Jianwen, the whole world this year can be said to be very lively...

The black son-in-law Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate died. After his son succeeded to the throne, he led the Eastern Chagatai Khanate and Timur to quarrel with each other, and the war between the two countries resumed.

Secondly, Elbek Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty was killed by his subordinates, and Kun Timur was established as king.

Looking to Southeast Asia, Li Jiyou, the Prime Minister of Annan, killed his lord Chen Rikun and made his eldest son Yi king. Soon, Li Jiyou killed his son Yi and established his youngest son Yin. He killed him because of his young age and established his own title. king.

As for Europe, if Zhu Gaoxu remembers correctly, King Henry IV of England will succeed to the throne, and a noble rebellion will also break out in England shortly after he takes the throne.

All of the above are just matters abroad. If we talk about domestic affairs, they are even more lively.

Zhu Yunwen ordered the siege of Prince Xiang's Mansion, and Prince Xiang committed suicide. Then he deposed the three kings of Qi, Dai, and Min as common people, and Zhu Di was forced to submit to the Emperor Jingnan... This year, no matter in the East or the West, major events broke out in various countries, which was very lively. .

By that time, Zhu Yunwen had no time to learn the news about the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, and he did not dare to easily transfer the guards and horses from Gansu.

By the time he reacted, Zhu Di had already solved Daning, and he...

A smile appeared on Zhu Gaoxu's lips, but Yi Shiha in front of him couldn't understand what he was thinking.

In fact, at this time, Zhu Gaoxu was wondering if he had a chance to win the Western Region.

It is true that the current Eastern Chagatai Khanate is very respectful to the Ming Dynasty, but this is because the Ming Dynasty is powerful.

If Zhu Gaoxu remembers correctly, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di also understood this truth, so Zhu Yuanzhang began to set up the Anding Guard to the west of Suzhou in the 30th year of Hongwu, and then set up the Handong Guard in the [-]th year of Hongwu next year.

Although these guard posts were all controlled by Mongols, they were still vassals of the Ming Dynasty after all. Zhu Yuanzhang's layout also allowed the Ming Dynasty to gradually form a strategic encirclement of the Hami area, laying the foundation for Zhu Di's future military strategy of Hami.

After Zhu Di's disaster was over and after three or four years of recuperation, Zhu Di began to penetrate further into the northwest.

First, Anke Timur was consecrated as King Zhongshun. However, this person's foundation in Hami was unstable and his prestige was insufficient, which made it difficult for him to manage Hami with 5000 people.

At the same time, because he accepted the Ming Dynasty's canonization and helped the Ming Dynasty inquire about the Western Regions and Moxi, Hami had unknowingly become the Ming Dynasty's frontier defense outpost to the northwest.

This situation caused uneasiness among the forces surrounding Hami.

After Gui Lichi, the Great Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, learned that Hami had turned to the Ming Dynasty, he immediately sent people to Hami to spy on the news.

After learning that Anke Timur had no prestige, Guilichi immediately sent someone to poison Anke Timur to death.

After Anke Timur's death, although he had his own children, his nephew Tuotuo was captured into the Ming Dynasty since he was a child. Therefore, in order to better control Hami, Zhu Di decided to send him to Hami to succeed and continue to serve as the Ming Dynasty. Hold on to Hami.

This move can be said to be Zhu Di's major move to directly intervene in Hami's internal affairs and re-strategize the northwest.

Under Zhu Di's pressure, the Hami nobles were forced to accept the fact that Tuotuo attacked King Zhongshun.

Not only that, in order to protect Tuotuo, Zhu Di also sent a hundred armored soldiers to act as his bodyguards.

One hundred armored soldiers are definitely a force with great deterrent power to the Hami Guard, which only has 5000 people.

However, Tuotuo led a hundred Ming troops to settle in Hami, which also made the local nobles feel uncomfortable. After all, Anke Timur had his own heir, and Tuotuo belonged to Jiuzhan Magpie Nest, so they began to send people to fight with the Beiyuan ghosts. Lichi conspired to drive Tuotuo away.

This news was quickly learned by Zhu Di, so Zhu Di sent more than a thousand cavalry to travel between Hami and Suzhou all the time.

However, even with the Ming army standing by to deter him, Tutuo had no prestige and was incompetent. In the end, Tuotuo was expelled from Hami by the local nobles. Zhu Di was extremely disappointed with this.

After all, Zhu Di placed great hopes on Tuotuo, hoping that he could guard the bridgehead for the Ming Dynasty when the Ming army entered the Western Regions.

As a result, Tuotuo and the five or six hundred Hami people who supported the Ming Dynasty were expelled. After they fled back to Suzhou, they all couldn't miss Shu. They spent all day growing melons and lending money to make a living. They regarded Gansu as a paradise on earth and couldn't miss Shu at all.

Their appearance made many civil servants openly and secretly believe that Zhu Di had done something wrong. Even Zhu Di fell into self-doubt and began to despise Hami.

However, even so, it is not impossible for Ming Dynasty to win the Western Region again.

After all, after Tuotuo was expelled, the Hami nobles were still willing to be weakly restrained by the Ming Dynasty, and the Eastern Chagatai Khanate was also responsible for spying on the Tatar and Oara intelligence for the Ming Dynasty, and from time to time cooperated with the Ming army's mission.

This situation should have been maintained well, but it changed during the Xuande period.

In the third year of Xuande, the Great Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate was killed in battle. At this time, due to the issue of the throne, the nobles of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate were divided into two factions, and they were in trouble for seven years.

It can be said that these seven years were the best opportunity for Ming Dynasty to intervene in the Western Regions, but the emperor of Ming Dynasty at this time was Zhu Gaoxu's future nephew Zhu Zhanji.

Zhu Zhanji once clearly stated his own military theory. He opposed the strategic thinking of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who "wasted money at home" and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty who "relyed on his prowess and strength and was diligent and far-sighted". He advocated that "if there are bandits, take the opportunity to suppress them, and there is no need to go away." "Pursuit" defensive strategy.

This strategy seems to be the same as Lao Zhu's border defense strategy of "defend when you come, don't pursue when you go", but the problem is that he did not follow any of Lao Zhu's border defense strategy.

There was no real immigration to the border, nor was the Monan Guard Station restored during the Hongwu period. As a result, the soldiers and horses along the northern border were not trained and allowed Oara to become powerful.

Instead of copying the ready-made homework, they focused on the millions of shi of food and stayed in the pass. They missed two important strategic opportunities to send troops to the Western Regions and to attack the Tatars and Oaras.

Zhu Gaoxu got a little angry when he thought of his eldest nephew.

His ten years of life might as well be given to Zhu Gaoxu's good brother Zhu Gaochi. At least Zhu Gaochi knew how to defend the border.

He was obviously a good cavalryman, and his performance was very eye-catching when Zhu Di was alive. As a result, he became timid when he became emperor.

"Sure enough, I have to take this big position!"

Zhu Gaoxu was secretly convinced, and at the same time he stood up and said to Yi Shiha: "Let's go out with me and take a look."

"Yes" Although he didn't understand Zhu Gaoxu's thoughts, Yishiha never questioned him because Zhu Gaoxu never made mistakes in the general direction.

Since he is not worried about things in the northwest, it means that it is difficult for things to happen in the northwest.

Following Zhu Gaoxu out of the Bohai Palace, Yi Shiha glanced back while walking out, and then said to Zhu Gaoxu's back: "Your Highness, does the palace need to be repaired and expanded?"

"Huh?" After hearing Yi Shiha's words, Zhu Gaoxu also stopped and turned around.

He looked at his low-slung Bohai Palace. Although he didn't feel shabby, the palace was indeed built by Zhang Chun and others as soon as possible, so it had many problems.

For example, fire walls and fire channels cannot heat all rooms, and some rooms have water accumulation and moisture return.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked around and saw that most of the houses around the palace had been knocked down, and the ruins were full of people working for him.

The houses were knocked down not because they were all dilapidated, but because Jilin City is currently being rebuilt.

Heating pipes connecting the nursery fields in the city are being laid, and if nothing else goes wrong, all houses built this year will have fire walls and fire channels for individual street heating.

The water vapor after heating and combustion will pass through the inclination angle of the fire channel, pass through the nursery fields, and flow into the Songhua River.

The fire channel, fire wall, and horse manure for heat preservation can keep the heat in the nursery field for a longer period of time to the maximum extent, so that the nursery field can grow seedlings in March and then throw out the seedlings in April.

This design allows the people of Jilin City to have a warmer winter and keeps the nursery fields warm at all times.

The only drawback is that it consumes too much fuel.

According to Zhu Gaoxu's calculations, Jilin City's [-] people started heating in November and stopped at the end of March. In five months, a total of more than [-] million kilograms of firewood was needed.

Due to the large number, even if they can be satisfied, the surrounding trees will be cut down.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu had already made explicit provisions regarding the request for firewood. He planned the mountain forests in the upper reaches of the Songhua River and divided the Changbai Mountains near the Songhua River into twenty areas, with one area changed every year.

Of course, the heating here is naturally not as good as the heating system of later generations. To put it bluntly, it means that the room can be kept above zero, and it is impossible to reach the temperature above [-] degrees in the house heated by later generations.

But even so, such a policy would have been a remarkable benevolent policy in any era before the industrial revolution.

"How is the construction of fire tunnels in the city going?"

Thinking of his various new policies in Jilin City, Zhu Gaoxu felt a sense of pride.

"It's basically completed, so I asked if the palace needs to be renovated."

Yi Shiha explained, and at the same time gave a plan: "I think we can demolish the front yard first, then lay a fire path in the front yard, then build a fire wall, add a house, let the princess and the others move from the backyard to the front yard, and then demolish it again." The backyard, and so on.”

"This palace is indeed a bit small, and it is inconvenient to discuss matters." After hearing Yi Shiha's words, Zhu Gaoxu also walked around the palace twice, and finally said:

"Let's do this. According to the etiquette of the imperial court, we will build a building that is 46 feet wide from east to west and 62 feet long from north to south. It will have four gate towers, a hall for transportation, a kitchen and a rice warehouse, 56 halls and corridors, and 260 houses. County Prince’s Mansion.”

Zhu Gaoxu said this, but with just this sentence, the area of ​​the current county prince's palace increased several times.

The palace originally occupied only one-third of nine acres, but with one word from him, it now covers 47 acres and six-quarters of land.

Of course, Zhu Gaoxu did not do it for his own enjoyment, but to prepare for the future.

He can be sure that when Zhu Yunwen wants to cut down the vassalage of Yan Mansion, he and Zhu Di will be taken over the military power.

By then, Zhu Yunwen will probably leave himself a few hundred guards just like in history.

By then, these hundreds of guards must live in the palace, so the palace is not big enough.

"My slave, take your orders." Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu agreed to expand the palace, Yi Shiha also smiled on his face.

He walked to an official who was directing the people to build rice fields. He pointed at the Bohai Palace and the official nodded in agreement.

Zhu Gaoxu walked up curiously: "What did you say?"

"Haha." Yishiha smiled awkwardly and said, "My servant asked him to find the craftsmen in the city to bulldoze the palace and rebuild it as soon as possible."

"Uh..." After hearing Yi Shiha's words, even though he knew it was a good thing, Zhu Gaoxu always felt strange.

"That's all, you can figure it out yourself, just don't disturb the princess."

Waving his hands, Zhu Gaoxu mentioned Guo Yan, feeling a little headache in his heart.

After defeating Haragu, Guo Yan often asked him when he would have sex with him. Zhu Gaoxu also wanted to do this, but not with Guo Yan, but with the two maids she brought.

For Zhu Gaoxu, he really couldn't do anything to the current Guo Yan. Although it was legal in this era, he still couldn't completely abandon the thoughts in his heart.

In this regard, he could only explain that the palace was too small and not worthy of her status.

However, after this prevarication for a long time, a result must eventually come.

When the new palace is completed, Zhu Gaoxu will have no reason to avoid it, but even then, it is estimated that Guo Yan will just...

"Alas..." Zhu Gaoxu let out a long sigh. Seeing this, Yi Shiha on the side thought that he thought that building the new palace was a waste of money and people, so he deliberately changed the subject: "Your Highness, it's time to go and see the construction sites of each workshop."

"Let's go." Putting those thoughts aside, Zhu Gaoxu signaled Yi Shiha to go first and followed him.

As the two walked along, there were construction sites everywhere on the road. When many people saw Zhu Gaoxu, they stopped what they were doing and bowed to Zhu Gaoxu.

On the road, from time to time, people shouted to Yishiha, calling him "sir" or "general".

This feeling made Yishiha puff up his chest, and Zhu Gaoxu was very happy to see him beside him...

(End of this chapter)